Chapter 382 Showing weakness to the enemy
The condition of exchanging Yangzhou for peace was temporarily agreed by Chen Yan and Chen Cao before departure, and people who knew about this condition had thought of it in advance. After all, the premise of using the Yangtze River as the boundary was that Jiangbei would not have its own manpower.
Yangzhou is the first choice for the canal to enter the Yangtze River, but Yangzhou is like a sharp knife stuck in the north of the Yangtze River, and no one will be happy.
All the machinery in the Longjiang Arsenal is ready-made, and the current machine tools have begun to use steam power. In front of a P-2 110mm field gun being assembled, Chen Cao pointed to the gun body: "Can this gun hit the other side?" go?"
The other bank in Chen Cao's mouth refers to the north bank of the Yangtze River. Bi Maokang, who was accompanying him, nodded: "The caliber of this gun is larger than that of the P-1 gun. In terms of range, the lengthened barrel makes the distance farther. It can hit as far as four miles." In addition, if our army crosses the river from the other side of the canal in the future, this gun can completely overcome the shortcomings caused by the P1, covering the Qing army on the north bank will not be a problem at all, and it will be enough to cover our army's landing."
Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction: "Lin Liangcai's design is quite good. With this cannon, what if Yangzhou is handed over to Jiannu? They will be beaten in the future."
After inspecting the Longjiang Arsenal, Chen Cao inspected all the new factories set up around Longjiang one by one. After giving some instructions, he returned to the city and went to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion to meet with those who had fled from the north who had withdrawn from Yangzhou. Generals at all levels of the original Chongzhen Dynasty.
"This is Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of Zijin Pass, and his wife. The two of them protected tens of thousands of people going south along the way." Zhao Xin pointed to a man and a woman kneeling on the ground, and then whispered: "The acting king of Datong and the king of Lu of Jinan are also More than a dozen princes from Shandong Province followed him all the way south."
Chen Cao had heard about Zhou Yuji and was quite satisfied with his behavior, so he asked: "General Zhou, you and your wife get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty..."
"Chongzhen has died for his country. As the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I naturally want to avenge Emperor Chongzhen. You and your wife are somewhat capable, but now our army has eliminated cold weapons and all fight with muskets. If you two If you are willing, I can let you go to Huangpu Military Academy to study, and after completing your studies, you can supplement it with military duties, are you willing?"
Zhou Yuji knew the current affairs very well and immediately bowed down again: "I will thank your Majesty for your kindness..."
"Well, get up. From now on in the Ming Dynasty, even if you see me, you don't have to kneel down anymore. This is the etiquette you need to learn first. You and your wife should go down and rest first."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Chen Cao lowered his head and said, "I won't meet anyone else for the time being. Call Huang Chunyao and Xu Fuyuan."
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"You should have heard that Zhou Yuji brought King Dai, King Lu and a dozen other escaped princes from Shandong to Nanjing. How do you think they should be dealt with?"
As soon as Chen Cao finished speaking, Huang Chunyao, who had returned from Yangzhou to rest for a few days, immediately handed over his hands: "Your Majesty, I have a case against you...
King Dai, King Lu and other vassal kings surnamed Zhu, all you have to do is ask Queen Zhang to issue an edict..."
Chen Cao frowned, and Huang Chunyao continued: "Emperor Tianqi and these vassal princes are all uncle-nephew relationships. It is much easier for Empress Zhang, the nephew-in-law, to prove it than for His Majesty to directly order deprivation. In this way, the other Zhu family members can also be taken care of. Prove that Your Majesty is not a king who favors one and favors others."
"Yunsheng, how do you think you should deal with it?"
"The vassal kings who lost their land will be punished according to the crime of sects and vassals losing their land..."
Xu Fuyuan raised his hand and said, "I second the proposal."
The loss of territory by a vassal vassal means the elimination of the country. Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction after hearing this. Huang Chunyao continued: "Your Majesty can also issue an edict at the same time. In order to show your majesty's kindness, all the vassals and vassals surnamed Zhu who have lost their land will be named Lieutenants of Fengguo. Receive enough money and food that you won’t starve to death.”
"With Yunsheng's advice, I, the emperor, really feel a lot more relaxed," Chen Cao said with a smile: "In that case, you can prepare an order to handle it later. Now that you are all here, there is one more military situation you should know, Tatar, Oh no, I’ll give them some respect, the Qing army, the Qing army has accumulated 300,000 troops in Yangzhou and is watching them with eager eyes, what do you think you should do with them?”
Huang Chunyao and Xu Fuyuan looked at each other, and it was clear that they had already slandered: "Your Majesty, since we are negotiating peace with the Tatars, we have to show some attitude. I believe that the best way is to show weakness to the enemy."
"Zhao Xin recruited many followers and lieutenants who could not escape from Dongchang and Jinyiweibei Town Fusi, and got certain news. Huang Taiji ordered the encirclement of the northern Zhili land. Now the Han people in the entire northern Zhili territory have become I want this news to spread among the common people so that they can all know what Jiannu has done. I have asked Xin Zhao to spread the news."
"In the past, Zhu Wen took control of Luoyang in the name of restoring the Tang Dynasty, but was eventually destroyed by Li Keyong. Li Keyong used the people's hearts and minds. Emperor Taizu also used the people's hearts to expel the Tartars. He established slaves and committed unjust things in the north. , I thought..." Xu Fuyuan clasped his fists: "Your Majesty, Suning the North is God's will..."
"No need to flatter me, I have already asked Wang Xiaojie's army to retreat thirty miles, leaving only the 1st Group Army on the other side of Yangzhou, giving Jiannu an illusion that we are always on guard against them. This is exactly what Yunsheng said. , I want to show weakness to the enemy."
Chen Cao wrote a few words on the paper with a feather pen, then raised his head: "Army expansion is the key. I have ordered the Fifth Army Governor's Office to intervene in the cleanup of the veteran soldiers at each guard station. Those soldiers who fled from the north to the south are carefully selected." There are not many left after the election, and the untouchables in Zhejiang have almost used them, so the day before yesterday I ordered Hong Chengchou to recruit troops directly in Guangxi, Huguang, and Jiangxi provinces, and the divisions of the Ming army will be expanded to 120 divisions."
The number of soldiers in a division is 18,000, which is not a small number. Moreover, since the fifth army, the establishment of large armies has been cancelled, and only five divisions are used as a group army.
"Your Majesty, with Songjiang's power, it is feasible to support 60 divisions, but the extra 60 divisions may not be enough..." Xu Fuyuan advised: "Besides, the imperial court is now waging war on multiple fronts. The war in the Middle East has not been carried out until now. We have no idea yet, but I think we can postpone the recruitment or reduce the ratio of divisions."
"What do Yunsheng think?"
Huang Chunyao raised his head and looked at Chen Cao: "Your Majesty, what Fu Yuan said makes sense, but if Your Majesty insists on expanding to 120 divisions, then at least all the southern provinces must contribute. I once presided over the defense of Shanghai for a period of time. I also have a general understanding of the benefits related to tax collection and support. I believe that in the prosperous areas of Huguang and Jiangxi, the two provinces can implement land equalization and tax exemption as soon as possible, and then develop business there, and then transfer the vital resources to the imperial court. With unified planning, I think it should not be a problem to support 120 divisions within three years."
Chen Cao was overjoyed. He had roughly thought of this before, but he was still unreasonable about the allocation and use of state-owned resources. Now that Huang Chunyao mentioned it, the operability continued to expand, and he immediately thought of tobacco in later generations.
"How big the business of wealthy merchants is, how big the commercial tax benefits collected by the imperial court will be. I believe that expanding state-owned companies to handle business as soon as possible is a top priority."
Chen Cao agreed with Huang Chunyao's words, but when Huang Chunyao later talked about using Shen Zhuangling as an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Chen Cao directly rejected it: "Although women can be officials, it is not the time now. Besides, Shen Zhuangling is still my concubine. I can't guarantee that she will be an official in the future." It is not advisable to turn some businesses into the birthplace of internal funds. However, Xia Yunyi can be appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Land and Resources will be newly established and managed under the name of the Ministry of Household Affairs, with Shen Zhuangling as the Minister of Commerce. If possible, the post of Minister of Land and Resources shall be filled by capable persons recommended by him, and this shall serve as a constraint.”
Women can be officials, but Chen Cao still sees this. Shen Zhuangling is not a simple person, so how can she hold an important official position in the Ministry of Household Affairs?
Huang Chunyao nodded in agreement after hearing this, and then the three of them discussed business reform for a long time, and they didn't disperse until it was almost dark.
Before Chen Cao's car arrived in front of Hongwu Gate, he was stopped by Zhao Xin: "Your Majesty, urgent report from Xiangyang..."
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In the Qianqing Palace, Chen Cao laughed three times in succession, which was enough to show that the military information sent by Hong Chengchou was good news.
"I really did not misjudge the person. Hong Chengchou can do things."
Xin Zhao smiled and held up his hands: "Commander Hong is indeed powerful. This fire has saved the emperor a lot of trouble."
Xiangyang urgently reported that Hong Chengchou defeated the rebel kings in a battle. During the siege, some "insightful people" could not bear to see the civil strife in the Ming Dynasty. They cooperated with the defenders to open the city gate and burned half of the city of Xiangyang with a fire. Wang, Min, Qi, Xiang, Chu and other major vassal kings disappeared in the fire, and only the unburned body of Qi was found.
Chen Cao nodded: "Hong Chengchou is doing things, hahaha, I like it. Zhao Xin sent an order to Hong Chengchou to go west along the Yangtze River and enter Kuizhou. I just met Qin Liangyu before tonight and asked him to serve as an envoy with Hong Chengchou. Go west to the land of Bashu and persuade the king of Shu to surrender."
"Your Majesty, if the King of Shu surrenders, what will be done?"
Chen Cao smiled and said, "If Zhu Zhishu had wanted to, he would have come to Nanjing a long time ago. Gui Fan has come as far as the farthest, but he still hasn't moved. If he surrenders, I will give him a Earl who has been handed down from generation to generation. If he doesn't surrender, Even the title is spared.”
"Yes, I understand."
"Also, Hong Chengchou's troops are going to enter Guangxi and Yunnan. I asked him to recruit troops. He will know that even in the future Northern Expedition, the Shence Army may not be needed. The mission of the Shence Army is to Suning the southern provinces;
In addition, send someone to Shangfang Prison to bring an Emperor's Sword, and tell Hong Chengchou that former officials in the south, who are ranked fourth or first grade, can be beheaded first and then reported..."
Zhao Xin clasped his fists: "Yes, I will do it now..."
After giving all the instructions, Chen Cao collapsed on the dragon chair tiredly. The maids on both sides came forward to gently rub Chen Cao's shoulders and massage his head. After relaxing for a while, he realized that it was not easy to be an emperor, especially when the new dynasty had just begun. When it was established, it was only now that he matched Zhu Yuanzhang's courage...
"Isn't it just to stabilize the world by killing so many people? Hey..."
